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Recommended Books by Text Structure When it comes to text structure, there are limitless possibilities. Currently, most educators are focusing on
six main text structures. I’ve provided examples of each below.
Description Text Structure
An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston
The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins
A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano
Creep and Flutter by Jim Arnosky
Dolphins! by Melissa Stewart
An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston Hutts
Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate
Frogs by Seymour Simon
Lightship by Brian Floca
Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies
Right now narrative nonfiction is king in the kidlit world. It wins most of the awards, so editors are eager to
publish more. Who can blame them? They work for companies with owners or stockholders who want to
make money, and for the most part, award-winning books sell more copies.
So we have lots and lots and lots of narrative nonfiction, especially picture book biographies. Nearly all
narrative nonfiction has a sequence text structure. Some expository nonfiction titles also have sequence text
structure. In fact, narrative nonfiction is so plentiful and diverse that I divide it into five subcategories—
chronological, episodic, braided (several storylines woven together), cycle, and journey. And all of these
books present information as a sequence of events.
Sequence Text Structure with Narrative Writing Style
Chronological narrative
Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet
The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman
Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans by Don Brown
Grace Hopper: Queen of Code by Laurie Wallmark
Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Episodic narrative
Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Brave Girl by Michelle Markel
Coyote Moon by Maria Gainferrari
When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan
Braided narrative
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
We’ve Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson
Cycle narrative
A Drop of Water by Gordon Morrison
Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley
The Long, Long Journey by Sandra Markle
Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre
Journey narrative
If Stones Could Speak by Marc Aronson
Lost Treasure of the Inca by Peter Lourie
Quest for the Tree Kangaroo by Sy Montgomery
Saving the Ghost of the Mountain by Sy Montgomery
Sequence Text Structure with Expository Writing Style Chronological expository
Bugged: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee
Poop Happened!: A History of the World from the Bottom Up by Sarah Albee
Why'd They Wear That?: Fashion as the Mirror of History by Sarah Albee
Cumulative expository
Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest by Madeleine Dunphy
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart
Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox
How-to expository
Dessert Designers: Creations You Can Make and Eat by Dana Meachen Rau
How to Swallow a Pig by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes by Doug Stillinger
Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes by Josie Fison and Felicity Dahl
Try This! 50 Fun Experiments for the Mad Scientist in You by Karen Romano Young
There are two main kinds of compare and contrast books being published for children today. Publishers use
the term “list book” to describe picture books in which the main idea is presented on the first spread and each
subsequent spread offers an example. As kids work their way through these books, they are comparing the
various examples.
Other compare and contrast titles have what I call “dueling spreads.” The right-hand and left-hand pages
offer ideas that are different but related in some key way, and readers are expected to compare the
information.
Compare & Contrast Text Structure, List Books Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge
Daylight Starlight Wildlife by Wendell Minor
Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart
Lesser Spotted Animals by Martin Brown
The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea by Brenda Z. Guiberson
Move by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Pink Is for Blobfish by Jess Keating
Compare & Contrast Text Structure, Dueling Spreads
Frog or Toad? How Do You Know? by Melissa Stewart
Neo Leo by Gene Barretta
Those Rebels, Tom & John by Barbara Kerley
Mosquito Bite by Alexandra Siy
I can see why it’s worthwhile for students to practice writing texts that exemplify cause and effect, but
examples are few and far between in children’s literature. My six A Place for . . . books fall into this category
because as I was writing them, I heard teachers discussing how hard it was to teach this skill and I crafted my
structure with them in mind. I can only think of a few other books that clearly fit into this category.
Sample Books Earth: Feeling the Heat by Brenda Z. Guiberson
Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman
If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams
A Place for Turtles by Melissa Stewart
When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart
A growing number of nonfiction titles are also employing a problem-solution text structure. It’s interesting to
note that the books in my A Place for series have both a cause and effect structure and a problem-solution
structure.
Sample Books
Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs by Kathleen Kudlinksi
The Great Monkey Rescue by Sandra Markle
A Place for Bats by Melissa Stewart
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Mesmerized by Mara Rockliff
Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs by Michaela Muntean
Several publishers offer large series of survey books that feature a Q & A structure. There are also a handful
of concept books in which the questions and answers are seamlessly integrated into the text and authentically
enhance the presentation.
Sample Books Can an Aardvark Bark? by Melissa Stewart
Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sarah Levine
Creature Features by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Sterling’s Good Question! series
Scholastic’s Question-and-Answer series
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Copyright © 2017, Melissa Stewart’s Science Clubhouse. May be copied for educational use but may not be reprinted or resold for commercial purposes. www.melissa-stewart.com